This invention relates to an interactive wireless network and, in particular, to credit card validation over an interactive network.
Credit card validation requires a predetermined arrangement with various credit card validation agencies. For example, Internet online vendors and consumers use credit card validation services such as PAYPAL to enable users (e.g., vendors or consumers) with an e-mail address to send and receive credit card payments online. The PAYPAL validation service uses existing infrastructures of bank accounts and credit cards to create a global real-time payment for its users. There are, however, no credit card validation services that provide a communication link over an interactive wireless network for subscribers to the network. For example, there are no credit card validation services that allow a user to obtain credit card validation using a wireless device over an interactive wireless network without requiring specialized applications and integration. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a wireless credit card validation service that operates over an interactive wireless network that allows a wireless user to obtain credit card verification via an interactive message without requiring specialized application development.
According to one aspect the invention provides an apparatus for validating a credit card over a wireless network. The apparatus includes a gateway for sending a credit card validation reply message to a wireless device in response to receiving a credit card validation request message from the wireless device, the request message including credit card information for identifying a credit card to be validated.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of validating a credit card over a wireless network. The method includes sending a first credit card validation request message to a gateway from a wireless device, the first request message including credit card information for identifying a credit card to be validated; sending a second credit card validation request message from the gateway over an external network in communication with the gateway to a credit card validation service provider for processing the credit card information; receiving by the gateway a first credit card validation reply message from the credit card validation service provider over the external network; and the gateway, sending a second credit card validation reply message to the wireless device.
A further aspect of the invention provides a method for validating a credit card over a wireless network. The method includes processing credit card information associated with a credit card to be validated at a gateway, the gateway sending a credit card validation reply message to a wireless device in response to receiving a credit card validation request message from the wireless device, the request message including the credit card information for identifying the credit card to be validated; wherein, the credit card information is processed at the gateway by a software application developed independently of external credit card validation processes provided remotely from the gateway.